1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically manufacturing slide fasteners of a desired length from a continuous slide fastener chain, and more particularly to a stop unit of such apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44-12543 and reillustrated here in FIG. 12 of the accompanying drawings, a known apparatus for manufacturing slide fasteners from a continuous slide fastener chain has a stop unit in which a stop B detects the leading end of a pair of coupled fastener element rows A of a succeeding slide fastener chain being moved by a grip unit C and then renders the grip unit C to be stopped upon such detection.
A primary problem with the known stop unit is that since the leading end of a pair of coupled fastener element rows A of a succeeding slide fastener chain is sensed by the stop B to stop the grip unit C to thereby terminate the movement of the slide fastener chain, the slide fastener chain is apt to be damaged. Further, with such arrangement, it is difficult not only to speed up the processing of the slide fastener chain but also to select a length of prospective slide fasteners easily without restraint.